Alvin Sowers Sr.

He was born in Snow Hill, N.C., and was a retired insurance agent with Prudential. Ward was a talented artist and an avid bluegrass musician. He was a founding member of the TBMA and partnered with John Keeling and other musicians to organize the Weekly Farmers Market Hoedown. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Jones Sowers; two daughters, Teresa Lynne Stringer and husband, Paul, and Wendy Dawn Sowers, all of Norfolk, Va.; a son, Alvin Ward Sowers Jr. of Virginia Beach, Va.; and six grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 7, in Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Indian River Chapel, by the Rev. James Sowers. A private burial will be in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home one hour prior to the service on Friday.